Natalie and Nadiya nearly made the final three on The Amazing Race 21, but they came nowhere near as close on All-Stars. The twins became the first team eliminated Sunday after they self-destructed searching for a bridal shop in China and second-guessed their decision to enter an even-numbered ferris wheel booth, which contained their next clue.

"It was just terrible," Natalie tells TVGuide.com. "We were out of control, we had bad luck. It was not our day at all." Ironically, it was their previous performance on Season 21 that played a part in their downfall, they believe. You guys seemed to be resigned that you would get eliminated. When did you realize you were last?Natalie: Once we were in China, we just had very bad luck with the clue situation and after that, the leg was just so linear that there was no chance for us to make up time. Me and Nadiya kind of sensed it was coming to an end when we finally got the dress shop clue. We were hoping and banking on there being a really tough challenge, something intense that would allow for [placement changes] but once we realized that wasn't coming, we knew it was over.Do you know how far behind Joey and Meghan you were? Nadiya: We saw them at the bubble tower, and they saw us. We didn't realize the whole even-and-odd numbers situation, but they were gone before we got off the tower, and that thing took like 10 minutes to go around. We saw them again at the Roadblock. But nobody messed up on that, so we knew when they left there, we were last.You guys were your own worst enemies. You were right in front of the bridal shop and didn't go in, and you were about to go into one of the even bubbles and backed out at the last second.Nadiya: Exactly! We were just a hot mess the whole leg. I think the Afghanimals and us together was just too much energy. None of us are calm. Sometimes it's nice to work with a team that is more calm and levelheaded, whereas the four of us were just out of control. From there, it was a downward spiral. Natalie: Also, Nadiya and I were not used to being in the back of the pack. Not having been in the back on our first Race, it was really different racing from behind and having everything on the line. We were never racing not to get eliminated last time and that was different here. We started off racing for first place, but it ended up becoming a "we can't come in last" situation. It put us out of our comfort zone and we didn't deal with it well, so one thing unraveled after another.You were in a constant panic mode. Did you try to take a breath and calm down?Nadiya: I think we tried to do that, but it obviously didn't work. [Laughs] I was trying to calm down and re-strategize. It seems like a good idea, but it never happened for us like that. We always get more excited and more out of control.Natalie: It's also weird when you're working with another team. The decision to leave the team is sometimes scary to do. We thought about leaving the Afghanimals, but we ended up deciding to stay. If we had followed them when they left, we would've gotten lucky with them finding the shop. Nadiya: The big game-changer was that people were allowed to lead you to the dress shop. It's usually they could give you directions, but they couldn't lead you there. We got a bunch of idiots that led us to the wrong places. And any team, whether they're good at navigation or not, if they found the right person to find the right spot, that's all luck. The people that we had were just idiots. The other teams got better people. I feel like it would've been completely different if people weren't allowed to usher us to these stores.Do you think you would've had a chance if you went in the No. 2 bubble like you were going to?Nadiya: You never know. Obviously it would've been a better situation for us to be in. We would've been right after Joey and Meghan instead of waiting another 10 minutes, but like Natalie said, we had no opportunity to make up time. Literally the stadium was right below the bubbles. Nobody went to the wrong arena. Everybody went straight there, everybody did the Roadblock on the first try. It was very basic. Is it harder getting eliminated first or in fourth place?Nadiya: It's just as bittersweet as making it to fourth place. We came so close to the final that was in our hometown. We could smell the victory last time. This is on the other end of the spectrum. It sucks we didn't even get to race, but it's like we didn't even get close to the $1 million.Natalie: Just the fact that we couldn't race is disappointing. Even though we get a little crazy sometimes - and yes, this episode, we were very hotheaded and fighting with each other - we had such a fun time racing. How bummed are you that you missed out on going to Sri Lanka this season?Nadiya: I'm just pretending that maybe they decided to go to Sri Lanka once we were kicked out. [Laughs]Natalie: We're looking at it like, you know, we've already been to Sri Lanka. We grew up there. We don't need to go back there with Amazing Race!What are you up to now?Natalie: Back in school. Nadiya and I are actually planning to go back to Sri Lanka at the end of the summer to start a CrossFit there. We've been doing CrossFit here for about two and a half years. People talk sh-- about us, but you can't deny that when it came to challenges, we could hang with the guys, and that was because of CrossFit. We started doing that to train for the Race. It would've been amazing to have the extra $1 million for the business plan. [Laughs]

Nadiya: The big game-changer was that people were allowed to lead you to the dress shop. It's usually they could give you directions, but they couldn't lead you there. We got a bunch of idiots that led us to the wrong places. And any team, whether they're good at navigation or not, if they found the right person to find the right spot, that's all luck. The people that we had were just idiots. The other teams got better people. I feel like it would've been completely different if people weren't allowed to usher us to these stores.

It was purposeful I guess. Shame on you those fans! (not everyone please take note. just those idiots that Twinnies were talking about)

Logged

"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

That was TAR Australia I think? Which other season did we have a FW task? Can't really remember...

TARAus1 in Singapore in the finale, there were 3 clues and 28 pods but there was someone who marked which ones were taken already so that different teams wouldn't go into the same pod, correct or incorrect.

They truly had a disasterous leg, one that would get you eliminated easily on any leg on any other season. They both bickered and made mistakes & had bad luck.... They were really one of the very few rootable teams.... Well, at least they really got a lot of airtime (the most of all teams - I'm confident)

They handled themselves like real pros! Agreed that they didn't sound too bitter. I think even Phil was super bummed that they were the first team to go, truly unexpected given how much they were at the front of the pack in their first race.

DEFINITELY want to see them back for All-Stars #3 (or Unfinished Business #2?...or did they tank that 'title') - they seem like they would do it in a heartbeat as well. And @gamerfan, totally love that intro with them spinning

They should do a Cross-Fit video series - that would really get me into it.

Natalie and Nadiya were the first team eliminated from The Amazing Race All-Stars and they took YOUR questions! See if your question was answered below!

Jacob G: Did you guys think that getting on that #2 cart would have made a difference? I think maybe we would have had a chance to take over Team Youtube, but only if Joey had totally messed up on the challenge of doing flips in the air, which he didn't. We were going to be behind them by enough time to allow them to check in first.

Charlotte B: Do you regret the constant bickering? We fought the entire race on season 21, Nadiya and I fight, its not how friends fight, we are sisters and twins at that, we don't hold it against each other. Even with the fighting we made it all the way to 4th place before so no not really. We are explosive and have no boundaries with each other, its our twinnie relationship!

Lyn G: Why did you follow the other teams to look for the first clue instead of searching yourselves?We decided to work with Leo and Jamal on a whim, going back we should have just split off as soon as we realized it was not working out! We ran solo most of season 21 and it worked well, should have stuck with that!

Michelle C: Do you think you will ever be able to do something competitive without arguing? It seems that's when you disagree the most. We argue a lot! But usually it makes us push and try harder. When we in a competitive setting we yell and scream at each other and it usually makes us try harder and do better. For example when we are competing in a Crossfit competition or even just working out, I yell at Nadiya, she yells at me, really aggressively, it may make others uncomfortable but we don't care!

Marcy S: How does it feel to be the first eliminated due to your own bickering? No I think it was because we didn't find the bloody clue! The order of finding the clue basically secured us in a last place finish. It was a very linear leg with little room to catch up or overtake teams. We fought Leg 1 in China our first season the entire time but came in fourth. Nad yelled at me and we fought the entire time I was playing ping pong. I think it was a combination of bad luck, bad timing and that unfamiliar feeling of racing in the back of the pack that was the reason we lost!

Kelly C: Do you find that most teams are genuine? Like their true selves on and off camera? If you were able to make an alliance with another team from this season, who would that be? Why?I feel like most teams are genuine, some teams do things for the camera to get fans to like them more, some are fake to all racers so they can use them along the way. Nadiya and I have always been 100% ourselves, sometimes that gets us in hot water, makes people think we are too competitive or aggressive but that is who we are. I would never fake it! Mallory seemed like a girl that I would loved to race with, we didn't get to, but her personality just radiates! I think Nadiya, Mallory and myself would have had an amaze time racing together!

Justin P: How long were you searching for one of the three wedding dress stores? THREE BLOODY HOURS! It was the worst, hot, humid and caring 30 pound backpacks!!!

Scott M: Which team did you want to compete against (and beat) most? We were looking forward to racing with the globes, they are a really physically strong team and seemed to be a lot of fun! We would have loved to be in a situation going head to head with them in an intense and demanding challenge. We thrive off competitive physical challenges! Rooting for them to win though! GO GLOBES!

Logged

"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

Natalie and Nadiya embarrassed to be eliminated first on ‘Amazing Race’ All-Stars

by: Sheri BlockDate: 2/27/2014 1:54:00 PM

After being eliminated right before the final three the first time around, Natalie and Nadiya Anderson wanted to return to “The Amazing Race” to win it all.

But instead, the twins from Edgewater, N.J., were the first all-star team to be eliminated from Season 24.

“Honestly it was so bloody embarrassing. Nadiya and I, we never even had a close encounter until we got kicked off the first time. We were never scared (of getting eliminated) and this time Nadiya and I couldn’t even face Phil (Keoghan). It was really disappointing because I know he had high hopes for us, as well as all of the fans,” Natalie tells CTV.ca over the phone.

“Fans who hated us and fans who loved us, they all knew we were a strong team.”

The “twinnies” fell behind during a leg in China when they struggled to find their next clue in one of three shops among hundreds of wedding dress stores.

By the time they arrived at the next challenge – searching for clues in a bubble car at the Canton Tower ferris wheel – they were in last place and tensions were running high.

“We were stuck in a bubble, we knew we were basically last place, there was nothing to do except stare at each other. At that point it was just all frustration,” says Natalie.

“But we bounced back. We can have a really intense argument and then two seconds later we can be fine. There was nothing else after the bubble except the (high-wire) flips and it was basically done so there was nothing else that we could’ve rebounded off of.”

When the twins, who grew up in Sri Lanka during a civil war, first appeared on the “Race” in Season 21, they finished fourth after getting lost on the way to the Pit Stop in France. “Beekman” boys Josh and Brent went on to win the million dollar prize.

“Nadiya and I were so close last time and then the finale was in New York, where we’d been living for the past eight years, so for us it was bittersweet getting kicked off before the finale and we felt this time we could’ve made it to the final three,” says Natalie.

As well as their mix-up on the way to the Pit Stop, the twins have also been remembered for finding some money left behind by another team and keeping it, even though they suspected it belonged to rockers James and Abba, who were forced to beg on the streets of Bangladesh as a result.

“The racers (this season) would joke about it. They’d be like, ‘Don’t leave you money around, Natalie and Nadiya will get it.’ And we were like, ‘Yeah you better not leave your money because I’m sure it will be gone,’” says Natalie with a laugh.

“They were just doing it (in good) fun. I don’t think anybody really has an issue with it . . . it’s all part of the game.”

Natalie adds that even though they’re extremely disappointed they were kicked off first, she doubts any of the other racers feel the same.

“We were really strategic players. As soon as we got kicked out I’m sure there were a lot of sighs of relief from some of the teammates.”

“The Amazing Race” airs at a special time Sunday March 2 at 6 p.m. ET due to the Oscars broadcast before returning to its regular timeslot March 9 at 8 p.m. ET.

I'm gonna miss the twinnies, one of my picks to comeback for this season. Their bickering was never an issue for them until this season, before they use that to encourage eachother on their special way, but being trapped during the luck task at the canton tower sealed their fate.

The "Twin Sisters" team, who finished in fourth place on Season 21, became the first team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's first Pit Stop at Guangzhou Opera House in Guangzhou, China in last place.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Natalie and Nadiya talked about their very short-lived The Amazing Race experience. Below is the first half of their interview. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: The first obvious question is, can you believe you girls were the first team to get eliminated and how did you feel walking away from that experience?

Natalie Anderson: Yeah, I mean, never in a million years would I have thought Nadiya and I would be -- ever -- the first eliminated. I don't think anybody -- any of the fans, whether they love us or hate us, would ever expect us to get out first. I don't think the "twinnie" haters would ever think they'd get that lucky that we'd be out first.

But you know, it was really surreal walking up to the mat, you know, Nadiya and I were obviously hoping and praying they were going to tell us, "Oh yeah, don't worry, it's a non-elim."

Reality TV World: So it sounds like you girls were really confident going into the season then that you could defeat all these returning all-star teams?

Nadiya Anderson: Yeah, I think me and Natty are confident. Natalie and I are just -- the first season, we were very confident that we could win and we did exactly the same things this season.

I don't think we would've signed up to come back to The Amazing Race: All-Stars unless we thought there was a good chance that we could win the million. I mean, that's the first reason we came and that's the second reason we came back on the show, to win $1 million.

Reality TV World: In your final words, you girls mentioned how you couldn't believe it was so difficult to work together. What do you think happened there? Would you attribute your demise to just bad luck and a bad day, like you had said during the episode? Or maybe you think nerves got in the way or the fact you put a lot of pressure on yourselves because you're part of an all-stars cast this time around?

Nadiya Anderson: Yeah, I think it was a lot of factors. Obviously me and Natalie played a huge role in how we let ourselves unravel, and on top of that, we're not used to racing in the back of the pack. We're never used to racing [thinking] not to get last. The last time we were racing, [trying] "not to get last" was when we got eliminated in France.

We're usually always in the Top 3 or 4 and we're always racing for the No. 1 spot. So it was just dealing with that the first day back racing was just really overwhelming, and I just think we didn't handle it properly. And on top of that, also, bad luck, bad timing.

I think the fact they let somebody -- for the first time in, I think, The Amazing Race -- they let people lead us to the store because it was such a crazy neighborhood.

That played a huge factor I think, because we just got crazy people leading us to all the wrong places whereas other teams got lucky with who was showing them around. So it was a little bit of everything I think, and it was just a really -- we just had a bad day and we were just off our game that day.

Reality TV World: Five teams are featured from the The Amazing Race's 22nd season and three teams are from the show's 18th season. That made you girls one of only three teams who weren't from either of those editions. So do you think that was an advantage or disadvantage for you girls? Like maybe you thought those groups of returning teams formed instant alliances or something like that?

Natalie Anderson: I definitely think that we would've had a big advantage if, say, we were racing with "The Chippendales" [Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis] or [Trey Wier and Alexis "Lexi" Beerman] just because, you know, you know people so well and it's not fake. Like with the Afghanimals, [Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran], we didn't know them at all.

But, you know, we clicked with them on the first ride over and we decided to race with them. Little did we know that our personalities and their personalities were definitely not a good mix whereas with other teams, we balanced out. If we were with Trey and Lexi, we'd kind of have a balance because we've raced 11 legs with them, so we know how to give and go.

Whereas with the stupid Afghanimals, we were with them and we were all just out of control. They were nice guys, but it was just like, you know, not a good mixture putting us together.

And also, the other three teams didn't have anybody from their original season at all or they had also already been on all-stars, so basically every team had raced with a previous -- at least one other team besides us. We were the only team that didn't have anybody that we already raced with.

Reality TV World: During Sunday night's episode, you called Leo and Jamal "a hot mess" and what not, but you girls also admitted you had been hot messes. (Laughs) So were there specific things that caused you to be displeased with the Afghanimals or was it simply just overall personality differences?

Natalie Anderson: No, it was just that their personalities and our personalities were way too similar I feel, so we just need somebody who's going to counterbalance the craziness, and we didn't find that in Jamal and Leo. And when Nadiya was like, "Yeah, they're a hot mess," it's exactly how we are. It just made it x2 hanging out with those fools.

Reality TV World: So it seemed like things got a little better when you girls began working with Jennifer Wayne and Caroline Cutbirth. Could you talk about that a little bit, was that a better match-up for your team? And did they actually help you at all or did the group effort just cause more confusion?

Nadiya Anderson: I think, definitely, we should have just done our own thing like we've done in previous seasons. In previous episodes, when we were in our first season, I think me and Natalie were quick enough and strong enough to work completely on our own. We never, ever relied on anybody else to help, and I think that's what we should have done coming in as well this season.

You know, then when we started getting flustered and we started realizing we were falling behind, we kind of looked to other people. But we should've just done it on our own, because we probably would've been better off on our own.

Jamal and Leo are really cool guys and we had a -- it was actually fun and crazy fun racing with them, but it was not productive. It was totally counterproductive. Obviously though our luck is, you know, as soon as we left them, they found the clue. So apparently we should've been with them the whole time. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: While you were looking for one of the three correct dress shops, you ran into the teams who had been on the second flight. How long do you feel you were working on the task up to that point, and then how long did it take you overall to finally finish it?

Nadiya Anderson: Before the other teams got there, we had been there for two hours -- more than two hours -- running around in the streets in Guangzhou. It was insane, like, you know, we had not even realized so much time had elapsed. And then, you know, we kind of got like, "Oh!"

It kind of felt like we were in denial, like we had just been running around for maybe 20 or 30 minutes. And then when we saw the other teams, we were like, "Holy balls! It's been almost more than two hours and we've been running around and made absolutely no progress." It was just really depressing seeing the other teams.

Reality TV World: The show made it look like you girls passed the correct dress shops on more than one occasion when you were basically standing right in front of them. Was that accurate? Did you kind of just run by the correct shops because you were stressed and couldn't focus?

Nadiya Anderson: Yeah! We were literally in like a five-foot, maybe 10-foot radius of the stores that had all the clues in it, two of the stores that had the clues in it. We just kept, like, going back down the same street, same stores, same alleyways. And, you know, we just got so crazy that, at the end of the day, everything was like blurring together and we just weren't seeing straight

The Amazing Race: All-Stars eliminated Natalie Anderson and Nadiya Anderson during the premiere broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 24th overall season and third all-stars edition.

The "Twin Sisters" team, who finished in fourth place on Season 21, became the first team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's first Pit Stop at Guangzhou Opera House in Guangzhou, China in last place.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Natalie and Nadiya talked about their very short-lived The Amazing Race experience. Below is the concluding portion of their interview. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: You girls really struggled finding a clue at the Ferris wheel. How many bubbles did you end up going inside and therefore how many full rides did you take before getting a clue?

Natalie Anderson: We only went in two stupid bubbles, but obviously the first bubble, it takes f-cking almost 30 minutes to go around. So you're sitting there like a duck and you can't do anything. We're just sitting there, and that's obviously when me and Nadiya started arguing, because you're stuck in a bubble with nothing to do.

So we're getting to the end of the Race and we're in last place, so what else are we going to do? Smile and dance and sing? Obviously we immediately start fighting because there's nothing else to do, and then we got back in and out of the bubble, but Nadiya -- because I made the wrong decision first -- she was second guessing my decision to go in the right bubble.

So we missed another bubble! We missed two bubbles, and then we went in the fourth one, and I can understand why she didn't want to trust me, but then she wasn't making decisions either. So we were just sitting around. She wanted to wait for the twelfth one. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: I'm glad you clarified that because it didn't seem to make sense what you two were actually fighting about. I didn't know if there was a real issue there or whether it was just the annoyance of waiting around, like you just mentioned.

Natalie Anderson: Yeah, basically the first time we argued in the bubble was because I was like, "No, I see the clue!" I knew there were some teams who had the actual clue in it, so I was like, "You idiot! I see [the clue] in there!" So I was like, "Let's go!" And then getting there, we realized, "Sh-t. It's the outside clue but the inside doesn't have anything in it." It said, "Try Again."

So then when I was like, "It's f-cking in that one," but Nadiya was like, "No, let's just wait for one we know is legit," and that's when we were just hesitating back and forth. And then we finally just got in one, and luckily, it was right and we finally got the clue. But at that point, we were already doomed.

Reality TV World: How long did it take you to finish what seemed to be a quick Roadblock task -- flipping in the air?

Natalie Anderson: We were hoping that was going to be the first of maybe two challenges, because in our first experience on The Amazing Race, the first leg was really tiring and really long and it had two challenges.

And it had a lot of room for error on other people's parts, whereas this [time], the only big error you could have made was not figuring out which store to go to and to get your clue. And that's when me and Nadiya messed up.

The Roadblock took me all of like 10 seconds once I was up in the air to flip, you know, they had to suit us up and everybody suiting up and putting on that stupid-ass outfit all took the same amount of time.

So it's not like I could've put on my outfit faster than somebody else and try to beat them to the stupid tower. We [finished] in the order you came. The Roadblock was an easy-peasy challenge. Nobody faltered, so there was absolutely no way for us to change our position at that time in the Race.

Reality TV World: How far behind Joseph "Joey" Graceffa and Meghan Caramena do you think you two girls finally arrived at the Pit Stop?

Nadiya Anderson: I saw them at the flipping challenge. But when we got there, Joey was already in the air, and you know, Natalie was changing while Joey was flipping. So while Natalie was getting ready there, Joey and Meghan came down, and I said, "Good job guys." I knew we were last at that point because I heard Joey spazz out and say, "Oh my God, the Pit Stop! We're going to the Pit Stop next!"

And I knew at that point there was absolutely nothing we could do because the leg was very cut and dry. It was very boom, boom, boom. And there was nothing that -- Natalie and I were looking forward to some hardcore, physical, really tedious challenges so that we could make up time, but we weren't lucky enough to get that.

Reality TV World: You two obviously had some time to think about racing strategy before the show began filming. What did you two plan to do differently this time around, if anything at all? Did you think of ways you could improve your race from the last time?

Nadiya Anderson: I think, you know, we were pretty happy with how we raced. We're a hot mess and we're crazy, but usually, it comes around in a way that is actually beneficial to us, because we always need a fire under ourselves and we're always gunning for first.

We obviously thought about, you know, "We need to calm down and read directions, stay cool a little bit when it comes to making critical choices," but it kind of goes all out the window when you're in a situation that is so high-stress. I mean, we talked about it all night and day before we came but everything went out the window. It's just kind of hard to keep focused.

Reality TV World: Who did you think was your biggest competition while you were out there and were you actually surprised to see any of the other 10 teams competing again?

Natalie Anderson: I mean, you know, you hear about some teams, but me and Nadiya didn't really look at any of the teams as competition just because we have a really good skill set when it comes to racing versus other teams.

So, say an all-girl team that wasn't physically strong might look at a guy-guy team and be like, "Oh my God, how can we hang with the guys?" But me and Nadiya would never be -- that would be our least concern because we think we can hang with the guys physically.

If anything, one of the things me and Nadiya would've seen as a threat more was one of the personality teams that had a way to take positions calmly and collectedly, kind of like the Beekmans [Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge] who go under the radar -- somebody very different to us and almost seem like a non-threat but secretly is a big threat.

But we came in really excited to race with the teams, like when we saw the [Globetrotters Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nate "Big Easy" Lofton], we were really excited, and [Mallory Ervin], we were really excited when [William "Bopper" Minton and Mark Jackson] did the switch at the starting line. We were really excited to race with them.

Obviously we didn't get to bloody race, which sucked, (laughs) but those are some of the teams. We didn't see a challenge. At the end of the day, we got out because for us, the nature of the first leg wasn't suited for a team like us.

We would've thrived in a really physical, hard challenge. This was a really good leg for people who can make decisions on their own calmly, and it's just really [about] the navigation, and me and Nadiya, it wasn't our best.

Reality TV World: Were there any teams you had been expecting would be on the all-stars edition that weren't there? Maybe you felt certain teams deserved to be there but didn't get the chance.

Nadiya Anderson: Yeah, I mean, me and Natalie were the only people from Season 21 and we were the only people, you know, that hadn't kind of been with anybody else before coming on [the show]. Because even some of the all-stars, they were on a season together or had raced as all-stars together.

I feel like if [Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis] or [Trey Wier and Alexis "Lexi" Beerman] were on the season with us, it would've been a completely different ballgame. As well as being way more fun, it would've been great to have people on the Race that we could've trusted and people who would've been a no-brainer to work with. We wouldn't have had our guards up at all.

Reality TV World: How did your own return to The Amazing Race come about? Had you girls been campaigning for it all along or did producers contact you and it was a surprise?

Nadiya Anderson: It was a total surprise. I mean, when we got back, fans and people on Twitter and whatever, Instagram, were saying, "The Amazing Race: All-Stars is coming up and would you guys do it?"

And me and Natalie always were very vocal and expressive about the fact we would totally be down for an all-stars, and then it was a total surprise when they contacted us. And obviously our answer was "hell yeah."

Natalie Anderson: Coming back was like getting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity twice. Obviously Nadiya and I didn't make the best of this opportunity, but you know, it's something that I would never have said "no" to. It was a no-brainer, but I'm not really sure how they wrangle up the teams. But it seemed like it was just a really good mix of people and a very different cast. So it was really fun to be a part of it.

Reality TV World: How did you feel about Mallory substituting for Bopper since he got sick as Mark's partner? And if you were in their shoes, do you think either one of you would be okay racing with someone else? Would you go through with it?

Natalie Anderson: You know, honestly, Mark and Bopper, we didn't know them. We just watched them, and it was cool to watch them race. Honestly, I feel like Mallory was put in a crazier situation than Mark, because at the end of the day, Mark still got to race for his friend. Mallory was doing this for Mark and Bopper.

She was, you know, substituting for a person that wasn't physically fit to race. It sucked that he couldn't race with his best bud or whatever, but I feel like Mark and Bopper are the same person, and so Mallory brought another dynamic to the team.

I feel like together, Mark and Mallory could really do some damage racing, especially since she was in the Final 3 with her father. But you know, it was a crazy situation at the starting line. Me and Natalie were excited to see Mallory, so we didn't get to race, but we were really excited to see her at the starting line.

Nadiya Anderson: And yeah, I think me and Natalie's personalities and how we interact and how we react, I don't think anybody would want to race with us. Us wanting to race with somebody would be a different story, but I don't think anybody else would want to race with us.

We're just way too intense and, you know, I feel like if we talked to anybody else the way we talk to each other, I feel like there would be tears. And by the end of the leg, it'd be a hotter mess than me and Natalie. So, no, I don't think we'd do that.